It's a list that fluctuates from year to year, though there are a few constants.

In 1990, Latin was a hard subject to fill. Not only is it not on the list, it's rarely taught now. Music has made the list for a couple of years.

On the other hand, there's been a shortage of speech and language pathologists for at least 25 years. They are a rare constant, even more than special education and world language teachers.

Ruotolo has one thing in her favor this year when she begins to hire elementary teachers to address increased enrollment in Stamford. Most districts get up to 400 applications for every elementary position.

Thompson won't have such luck in her hunt for bilingual teachers.

"We are having great difficulty finding bilingual teachers," she said. "There are a lot who are teachers of English as a Second Language, but few with the bilingual endorsement. We have spent a lot of time coming up with creative ways to recruit and have talked with staff on how to reach out with more diverse web advertising."

For less-affluent school districts, the shortages can be magnified by the annual migration of teachers to wealthier districts, where the pay can be significantly better.

Fewer teachers in state

The shortages exist despite a decline in the number of teachers in the state.

In 2004, there were 4,887 teaching positions to fill in the state. In 2012, it was down to 4,000.

While the number of overall certified teaching positions in the state changed little in recent years -- from 52,181 in 2011-12 to 52,404 this year -- the state's data reflects that teachers move out of poorer districts at higher rates than other systems.

Some districts are cutting back because of declining enrollments or budget cutbacks.

New Milford is one example of a district still reducing positions. Baldelli sent out letters of non-renewal of contract to 11 teachers in January. They were selected based on enrollment changes, though the decision was driven by budget reductions.

Shortage of training

Ruotolo said one reason why some specialties are so hard to fill is the lack of programs to train teachers in those areas.

Her district took its own steps to address the remedial reading shortage. Stamford offered its teachers courses taught by Sacred Heart University professors at the Stamford schools.

The district offers reduced tuition so teachers can get cross-endorsed in the subject.

"Shortage areas are a concern, because it means that students are not getting instruction from certified teachers," said Mark Waxenberg, executive director of the Connecticut Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, with 41,000 active and retired members.

Under certain conditions, districts can hire teachers outside their certification for the shortage areas.

But Waxenberg blames the shortage in part on what he thinks is the larger issue -- that teaching is not viewed as a profession, but as a job mostly to administer tests to students these days.

"If you want to attract the best and the brightest in the field, in college and even in high school, they have to be able to identify and recognize teaching as a profession," Waxenberg said.

"We think that every teacher should be prepared (in college) to teach bilingual and special-needs students," he said. "Right now in Connecticut, every education students must have two majors, one like English, psychology or communications and then their education major."

Steinmetz said the shortage list can be frustrating for universities who don't have the state's insights on future teacher needs.

For instance, English teachers at the middle and high school levels have been a shortage area from 2004 to 2012, but not now.

The state Department of Education is working on multiple fronts to address the shortage areas, said Sarah Barzee, interim chief talent officer for the state.

It has tried to help districts, especially the poorest ones, improve their recruiting and retention efforts.

"We have to learn talent management, like how to attract the top candidates into the profession and then ensure they stay in the field," she said.